Why You're Not Losing Weight

While I’m a nutritionist that specializes in pain management, I spend a good portion of my time helping people lose weight.  More often than not, the two go hand in hand.

It’s incredible what nutrition can do for the body and how amazing life is once you feel those healthy changes start to pay off.  Most people don’t realize how great your body is designed to feel. When feeling lousy is the norm, it’s hard to imagine anything else.

I’ve spoken with 1000s of individuals about weight loss. While everyone has their own unique story, body and needs, I have seen the common threads that hold people back from their own weight loss success. Point blank, I can tell you why you’re not losing weight.

Fear

Fear is the number 1 reason that people don’t succeed in their weight loss efforts. Fear of making change. Fear of what others will think. Fear of pain, deprivation, starvation or even fear of letting go over their obese persona.

​Acknowledge your fears and the fact that they’re holding you back. Don’t use fear as a crutch to hold you up, when it’s the same thing knocking your legs out from under you.  Recognize when you have a fearful thought and choose to let it go. Try this for one week or one month and see the HUGE changes it makes in your life and your waistline.

This or That Logic

“Is it diet or exercise that helps with weight loss?” Both.

“Should I cut back on carbs or fat.” Neither. Make healthy choices will all nutrients and the amounts of food you choose to eat.

The list goes on. Often we deliberate on what is the best direction to go, so that we actually don’t have to move in any direction in life, including forward. Repeatedly, I have seen this very logic trap individuals in their current weight and life situation.

When it comes to the ONE tried and true, scientifically proven way to lose weight, the answer is healthy lifestyle. There is no other way to reach healthy, lasting, successful weight loss. None. A healthy lifestyle means eating well, being physically active, taking care of your emotional health and pursuing happiness.

Speaking Limitations Into Reality

Going on and on and on about why something won’t work, why you won’t like a new food, why you have failed in the past isn’t help you, it’s hurting you. It’s condemning you to the very negativity that comes out of your mind.
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What we think becomes what we say becomes the reality we construct. Words can build or words can break. Why not use your every word to make your world and the world around you a better place? You and everyone you encounter deserve to only hear constructive, positive statements.

Fighting the Professional You Hired to Help You

It’s a common complaint that a person goes to a doctor, nurse, holistic practitioner for help and they don’t like what they hear. Don’t get mad at your healthcare provider for telling you that you need to make changes or you’re going to continue to get sicker.

Also look at what the issue is that you’re trying to resolve and then hire the proper professional. Furthermore, look at what you want out of the care that practitioner provides you. At the end of the day, it’s your body and you’re the one accountable for it.

If you schedule an appointment with your doctor for high blood pressure, don’t get furious with them, the pharmaceutical industry and the entire healthcare industry because he or she prescribes blood pressure medication. Discuss with your doc that you’re concerned about your high blood pressure and what you need to do in both the short and long-term to overcome this challenge. If you don’t want to be on medication indefinitely, speak up.

This goes for anyone you get involved in helping you reach a healthy weight. Work with your nutritionist, not against us. We can educate you on foods that are harming your health and foods that can help you. Telling your nutritionist that you’re going to continue to eat the way you have and expect to see results is a lot like saying, “I’m paying you so I can tell you about how I’m choosing to remain the same.”

As one of my best clients said, “If I continue to eat the same, I’ll continue to weigh the same – way more than I want to. I’ll continue to gain weight just like I have been.”

Looking in All the Wrong Places

If you want to lose weight and feel great, look for healthy foods, not healthiest options. Yes, if you’re in a situation where you have to eat what is there, do make the best choice. But don’t rely on any restaurant to be your waistline savor.

Honest truth, most “healthy” food options at restaurants are loaded with toxic food additives, gas causing agents and a metric ton of sodium. Frack the turkey bacon breakfast wonder and make you own healthy breakfast to go. You’ll get more nutrition and save money.

Hidden Sugar

Doesn’t matter if it’s organic sugar cane from the mystical land of super-moral people and thriving endangered species – it’s sugar.  Sugar is sugar and it’s in lots of packaged foods.

Excess sugar causes weight gain, high cholesterol, acne, gas, bloating, fatigue… oh and addiction to more sugar. Check the labels and say “bye-bye” to unnecessary sugar. Double check your “healthy” food products. Milk replacements (coconut, soy, rice, hemp, etc.), low-fat products and even multigrain wonder products are common culprits. Good news is that there are plenty of healthy options out there.

Before you go tossing out healthy fruits because of the natural sugar they contain, remember this: you’ll overdose on the fiber in fruit long before you overdose on the sugar in fruit. Anyone whose eating too many cherries can attest to this.

You Don't Want To

Crazy as it may seem, many people can’t lose weight because they don’t want to, YET. You may be miserable and hate your weight, but at the same time, that’s the norm you know and feel safe in. You have to be ready to change. You have to really want it.
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Write it all out - anything and everything in life that you want and what you feel like you need to do to get there. Hire a mental healthcare professional and break through your barriers until you reach the point you want to. Before you can start your weight loss journey, you need to travel to the place where you want to lose weight.

Click HERE to get health, nutrition & wellness information you can use in real life. ​